Shatrughan Sinha has been making piercing attacks on his party and its leadership (File)
Patna Sahib lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha, who maintains an acrimonious equation with the leadership of his party, says he is ready to quit the BJP "at once". He, however, has one condition-- the party "high command" must ask for his resignation.
Mr Sinha has been making piercing attacks on his party and its leadership. Last week, he represented the party formed by Yashwant Sinha-- former BJP leader--at Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee's rally, which was meant for the anti-BJP political parties. The lawmaker addressed the masses there and launched a savage attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he must answer a few questions else he will have to hear "chowkidaar chor hai (the watchman is a thief)".
The BJP that has not taken any action against Shatrughan Sinha so far, reacted to the provocation. Its spokesperson, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said the party had taken a note of his presence at the Kolkata rally.
Mr Sinha, however, seems unfazed. When asked about Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi's comment that he is done with the BJP, he told news agency IANS: "Who is this Modi? I only know one Modi in the BJP. The real action hero, our Prime Minister, the honourable Narendra Modiji. Who are these small fries to tell me what to do? Tell them to please find some other way to get publicity rather than by using my name."
Shatrughan Sinha seen with opposition leaders at Mamata Banerjee's rally.
"As for leaving the party, let the high command say it. I will leave at once," he added.
When asked about his future political plans, and if he would form a new political party, Mr Sinha said everything will be made clear in the future.
"Let the holy festival of Basant Panchami arrive. Everything will be clear. In the meanwhile, everyone can see who my political allies are -- be it Mamata Banerjee or Arvind Kejriwal. These are people with whom I share mutual respect. For any political alliance to work, there should be respect within the ranks," Mr Sinha told IANS.
Leaders of 22 opposition parties came together in Kolkata on Saturday as a show of strength at the rally, organised by Ms Banerjee. AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, TDP's Chandrababu Nadu, SP's Akhilesh Yadav, DMK's MK Stalin were among the attendees. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and BSP leader Mayawati gave the rally a skip, but they sent their representatives.
With inputs from IANS